2 arrested in theft at GHS locker room

September 19, 2001|By Michael Jones

For many Cheboygan football players the evening was marred when sometime between the opening kickoff and the end of the first half, culprits broke into the team's locker room at the GHS gym, stealing several personal items valued at an estimated $1,500. Backpacks, books, watches, CD players, cell phones, wallets and clothing were among the items taken during the robbery.

Jesse Earl Thomas, 19, of Gaylord, was arraigned at Otsego County District Court Monday on charges of larceny from a building, a four-year felony. A 17-year-old Gaylord man, also apprehended, has posted bond but not yet formally been arraigned on charges.

Neither of the suspects is a student at GHS or any other school, according to police.

Authorities at the Michigan State Police post in Gaylord, who investigated the matter, noted because the crimes occurred on school property, the charges could be doubled.

According to state police, by early Saturday morning investigators had arrested the 17-year-old suspect and allegedly recovered a watch and cell phone from him. A few hours later, at 5:30 a.m., police apprehended Thomas, who troopers allege was in possession of the remaining property, except the cash and wallets.

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GHS Athletic Director Karen Leinaar and the MSP confirmed a similar robbery occurred one year ago at a home junior varsity football game played against another Cheboygan team. In that robbery, personal property stolen in the locker room was taken from both Gaylord and Cheboygan players. Last year's robbery has yet to be solved.

MSP Sgt. Jeff Gorno said, "We will be looking for comparisons between Friday's larceny at the high school and last year's incident to see if there are any connections."

According to Leinaar the swift apprehension of Friday's suspects may well have been due, in part, to a GHS custodian and some students who allege they saw the suspects after the robbery. "We also had the suspects on our security cameras located at the outside door of the north entrance to the gym."

As to how the suspects gained entrance into the locker rooms, Leinaar said historically it has been GHS policy to keep the locker room doors locked during all athletic events. "The doors were locked during Friday's game and it may have been a case of someone not shutting the door properly when they left the locker room. Unfortunately, some of the Cheboygan kids left their stuff lying out instead of secured in lockers. We still hate to see something like this happen though," Leinaar said.

"Our teams are encouraged to use the lockers because you just can't trust everyone," said Leinaar, who noted most GHS players have a lock they take with them for away games to secure their personal belongings. Other than Friday's unfortunate incident and the break-in at last year's junior varsity game, Leinaar said there has not been a rash of such incidents at the high school.

Sgt. Gorno said, "To our knowledge this has not been a problem at the high school."

Otsego County Sheriff Jim McBride also said his department has no record of any other such incidents.